Drew Brown / MCT

Wounded Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans Gabe

Monreal (left) and Yancy Baer (right) bicycle through
central Vietnam as part of a recent six-day, 320-mile trip to
raise money for Vietnam veterans who want to return for
the first time since the war, but cannot afford to make the
trip.
Posted on Wed, Apr. 16, 2014
Veterans bike through Vietnam to help heal wounds of war
By Charlie Reed and Drew Brown
McClatchy Foreign Staff
Whenever Army Maj. Yancy Baer deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan _ and when he came home
the last time in 2009 to face the amputation of a leg _ Vietnam veterans were always there to greet
him and lend their support.
Baer is now returning the favor. He and six other cyclists, including three other wounded
Afghanistan and Iraq war vets, completed a 320-mile journey earlier this month through the former
battlefields of central Vietnam.
Their mission: to raise money for Vietnam veterans who want to return to this southeast Asian
country for the first time since the war but cant afford to make the trip.
If it wasnt for Vietnam vets standing up and lobbying for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, I truly
believe we wouldnt have the care or the warm homecoming that most of us have experienced,
said Baer, 42, of Choctaw, Okla. Its a shame their generation didnt support them the same way.
Baer lost his left leg below the knee after a noncombat injury in Iraq in 2009. He rode on the bike
trip alongside Army Sgt. 1st Class Gabe Monreal, who had his left leg amputated below the knee
after a firefight in Afghanistan in 2010. The two buddies met during rehabilitation at Brooke Army
Medical Center in San Antonio. Baer plans to retire soon. Monreal remains on active duty.
The Vietnam veterans are doing stuff for us all the time, said Monreal, 37, of Corpus Christi, Texas. We are so spoiled. The support is
incredible.
The cyclists, who rode on behalf of San Antonio-based Operation Comfort, raised $170,000 in corporate sponsorships and personal donations.
The money will be used to send at least 25 Vietnam veterans back to the country next year.
The cyclists pedaled up and down mountains in unforgiving heat and rain, along winding roads through cities and villages, rice paddies and
jungles, where the vestiges of a war that ended 40 years ago still linger.
Six days later, they ended their journey April 6 in the former imperial capital of Hue, where one of the Vietnam Wars bloodiest battles was fought
in 1968. They flew home from Hanoi a few days later.
Thirty riders from the United Kingdoms Help for Heroes, some of them veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, also participated in the ride.
Among the American contingent were Army Sgt. 1st Class David Kaweka Lau, 39, of Olympia, Wash., and Capt. Chris Rosebrock, 28, of
Chicago. Their trip coincided with the day two years ago when a suicide bomber struck their foot patrol in Afghanistan, severely wounding both
men. The blast killed three other American troops, five Afghan police officers, an interpreter and 11 civilians.
Lau nearly lost his right leg at the hip, but doctors managed to save it. A piece of shrapnel nicked Rosebrocks femoral artery and he almost died.
In many ways, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam are the same for those who fought in them, said Lau, whos also set to retire. Those who
survive, he added, face the same gut-wrenching questions, such as Why did I make it home?
Its deep. Its hard to put into words, he said. Even though their war was 40 years before ours, to sit and talk to them, its like talking to a guy who
just fought in Afghanistan.
Despite his own traumatic experience, Rosebrock said hed gained a deeper appreciation for the rigors that American combat troops faced in
Vietnam.
It gave me a unique perspective of what these guys fought in, he said. Because Im trying to get up a hill on my bike, and scouring for shade for
a second, and I look across into this thick brush, and I thought, How did these guys fight in this?
John OConnell was the only Vietnam veteran to make the ride. He served as a Marine Corps infantry lieutenant along the demilitarized zone
during the bloody year of 1969. Hed never planned to return to Vietnam, but after working with todays younger veterans, he eventually changed
his mind.
OConnell taught Baer and Monreal how to surf a few years ago in California. Now they, along with Lau and Rosebrock, have helped him achieve
the closure that had eluded him for decades.
I didnt know what I was going to face here, said OConnell, 67, a retired Los Angeles Police Department captain who lives in Shell Beach,
Calif. There were so many bad memories.
The cyclists passed through some of the places where OConnell had fought. He remembered being with his Marines: the ones he lost, the ones
who are still alive, all of whom he still loves.
Once we got out to Khe Sanh, it really hit me, OConnell said. I yelled out, My God, Im back home again.
When we got to the Rockpile, he added _ a mountain that U.S. troops had used as an artillery and observation post _ I actually felt a shot of joy
in my heart.
OConnell led a prayer near a spot where some of his men were killed 45 years ago.
It was like a final farewell, he said, tears welling in his eyes. Im going away grateful for having come back to Vietnam, and I am grateful for
having come back with guys like these.
2014 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com